A lone bird soars near a phantom sun, or sundog in this breathtaking image.
Juan Manuel Pérez Rayego captured this beautiful photo from Merida, Spain in October 2012, releasing it recently to SPACE.com. The photo was taken in a single exposure, without a tripod, using a polarizing filter.
A small rainbow spotted off the side of the sun is called a mock sun, sundog or parhelion (Greek, meaning "beside the sun"). This phenomenon may be rare, but it is just sunlight refracting through thin, falling ice crystals in the Earth's atmosphere. These crystals fall almost horizontally and refract the light sideways. Sundogs typically occur 22 degrees to each side of a setting or rising sun. [Amazing Rainbow Photos by Skywatchers]
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